Enhance the Transparency in the Environment and Sustainable Development Sector (TN0026)

Enhance the transparency in the environment and sustainable development sector

6. Enhance transparency in the environment and sustainable development sector

Commitment Text:

This action aims to promote the principles and tools of good governance in the elaboration of Tunisian development plans, through the adoption of the objective indicators and the establishment of the three pillars of "Policy Brief" that have been formulated within the framework of the implementation of the goal of sustainable development “ODD16” in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics and institutions intervening in the project.

Milestones:

• Reaching the goal of sustainable development focused on the field of corporate governance "ODD 16";
  • Drafting the “policy briefing” of the ninth component of target 16 and its ratification by all stakeholders,
  • Elaborating of a governance study reference in Tunisia in the bases of policy briefing,
  • Elaborating indicators fixed by all stakeholders,
  • Monitoring and Implementing of 9th components of target 16
  • Integrating policy briefing in the elaboration of the Tunisian development plan
  • Evaluating the efficiency of these policies.
• Developing and deploying an open data platform related to environment and Sustainable Development;
• Developing and deploying a geographic information system about environment and sustainable development.

Responsible institution: Ministry in charge of Civil Service, Governance and Fight against Corruption.

Supporting institution(s):

Start date: June 2016        End date: July 2018

Context and Objectives

This commitment contains two broad milestones and another vaguely formulated one that doesn’t clearly identify intended results or specific activities. The general idea is to develop milestones that would provide data on environment and sustainable development. The first milestone aims to reach SDG 16 (Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels), which extends beyond the end of the action plan cycle in 2018. [27] The second milestone involves the development of an open data platform that is linked to the environment and sustainable development, with the third milestone developing a geographic information system about the environment and sustainable development. The commitment goal touches upon multiple policy areas, but it is not clear what these milestones are targeting more specifically.

Since two of these milestones aims to develop open data and geographical information systems, the commitment is relevant to access to information. During the field research, the IRM researcher possessed more details from the OGP point of contact, Khaled Sellami, [28] on this commitment, and the Ministry responsible for the environment and local affairs was responsible for developing these two systems.

Though the commitment is linked to the Open Data Platform and Geographic Information System, which aims to disseminate data that can assist civil society organizations and the private sector working on environmental matters and sustainable development, [29] the specificity of the commitment is low and given the lack of clarity on intended results, the potential impact is minor.

Completion

During implementation the lead ministry agency, the Ministry of Civil Service, Governance and Fight against Corruption, which was assigned to this commitment, was dissolved after the minister’s resignation. [30] The responsibility over the commitment went to the Ministry of Environment and Local Affairs.

As the different milestones are still being discussed and negotiated by the different levels of the Ministry of Environment and Local Affairs, implementation of the commitment is considered not started.

Next Steps

Addressing SDG 16 is a worthwhile initiative and could make for a strong and ambitious commitment. However, the IRM researcher recommends that the next action plan includes clearly formulated commitments that communicate intended results and measurable milestones linked to the most pressing aspects of this particular SDG.

6. Enhance the transparency in the environment and sustainable development sector

Commitment Text:

Sustainable development is considered among the most important approaches which must be adopted in order to establish good governance and ensure integrated development. The aim is also to take into account the specificities of the different regions in Tunisia and the right of future generations to benefit from resources and healthy environment.

Milestones:

• Reaching the goal of sustainable development focused on the field of corporate governance "ODD 16";

This action aims to promote the principles and tools of good governance in the elaboration of Tunisian development plans, through the adoption of the objective indicators and the establishment of the three pillars of "Policy Brief" that have been formulated within the framework of the implementation of the goal of sustainable development “ODD16” in collaboration with the National Institute of Statistics and institutions intervening in the project.

• Drafting the “policy briefing” of the ninth component of target 16 and its ratification by all stakeholders,
• Elaborating of a governance study reference in Tunisia in the bases of policy briefing,
• Elaborating indicators fixed by all stakeholders,
• Monitoring and Implementing of 9th components of target 16
• Integrating policy briefing in the elaboration of the Tunisian development plan
• Evaluating the efficiency of these policies.

• Developing and deploying an open data platform related to environment and Sustainable Development;
• Developing and deploying a geographic information system about environment and sustainable development.

Responsible institution: Ministry in charge of Civil Service, Governance and Fight against Corruption and the Ministry in charge of Environment and Sustainable Development.

Start date: June 2016 End date: July 2018

Editorial Note: This is an abbreviated version of the commitment text. For the full commitment text from the Tunisia National Action Plan, see here.

Commitment Aim:

This commitment aimed to establish good governance and ensure integrated development by offering measures related to the implementation of sustainable development goal “SDG16”. The first milestone includes six measures centering around the draft and application of a policy brief formulated within the framework of the implementation of the goal of sustainable development “SDG16”. Other milestones under this commitment cover the development of an open data platform and a geographic information system focusing on environment and sustainable development

Status

Midterm: Not Started

The Ministry of Civil Service, Governance and Fight against Corruption, which was assigned to this commitment, was dissolved in 2017. The Ministry of Environment and Local Affairs then became the institution in charge of implementing this commitment. This change of leadership altered the commitment’s implementation starting date. The government states that by the midterm assessment, the implementation of the first and second milestone was complete. The IRM researcher, however, could not verify this. The implementation of the third milestone, that included the development of a geographic information system, did not start by the midterm assessment. [36]

End of term: Limited

In its End-of-Term self-assessment report, the government mentioned that a study had been conducted using the 2013 data. [37] A log frame [38] was developed by the Tunisian Government for policy briefs related to SDG16 for the Ministry of Interior. However, the OGP focal point confirmed to the IRM researcher that there is not a clear inter-governmental coordination to implement this commitment. [39] Given the lack of clarity of this milestone, the IRM researcher was unable to assess its completion.

The government stated that the second milestone, which was the development of an open data platform related to environment and sustainable development, has been implemented. [40] The IRM researcher assessed the website of the Ministry of Environment and could only find basic information. According to an interview with the OGP focal point, [41] the implementation of the third milestone was still ongoing, and a software agency was contracted to conduct the needs assessment. Taking all the milestones into consideration, completion of this commitment remains limited.

Did It Open Government?

Given the unclear relevance of this commitment to OGP values and the limited implementation, this commitment did not change government practice.

Carried Forward?

This commitment was not carried forward.